ROCKLAND, Maine — City Manager Tom Luttrell said the estimated $20.9 million for a new public safety complex is in line with other municipal construction projects in New England.
The City Council is expected to take a preliminary vote July 14 on placing a bond referendum before voters to borrow up to $20.9 million for a building that would house both the fire department, emergency medical services, and police department.
The city manager said he hopes to schedule a meeting for July 23 at which the engineering firm will be present to detail the proposal.
The manager made his comment after questions were raised by a couple residents concerning the cost of the project.
“You’re spending money like drunken sailors. And I’ve known a lot of drunken sailors growing up in Rockland,” said resident and frequent council critic Steven Carroll.
He said the Council needs to examine its priorities because the public has a lot of financial demands and pressures.
“We need less of a champagne diet and more of a beer diet to go along with the public’s beer salary,” Carroll said.
Luttrell pointed out that is planning on a new 37,000-square-foot municipal building that is estimated to cost $20 million. Scarborough built a 53,000-square-foot public safety complex in 2020 for $23 million.
“We’re right in line with other projects on a per square-foot cost,” the manager said.
And the city can seek Congressional funding for up to $4 million for the project but that can’t be applied for until there is approval from Rockland residents.
Dirigo Architectural Engineering of Scarborough issued a report to the city on April 14, concluding that the existing Rockland Fire Station should be demolished and a new consolidated public safety center constructed on the Park Street site.
“It is our opinion from this investigation that the building has reached the end of its useful and intended life, and that the costs of salvaging some portions of the existing building would be more substantial than complete demolition and construction of a new facility,” the engineering report stated. “However, the existing fire station does provide a reliable means to maintain fire department operations on site during the proposed phased construction, once that portion of the project moves forward.”
The city manager said the police department space has been a problem ever since the city moved into it, due to leaking. He noted the city has been part of a condo association at that location.
The proposed new public safety complex would have 45,522 square feet of space with two stories on one side and three stories on the other. The fire department bays would be located on the Lisle Street side with a footprint of 90-feet-by-140 feet.
The project would need to be done in phases, Dirigo said. The city contracted with the company to see if the existing fire station could be added onto for the police department to join fire and emergency medical services.
The engineering firm, however, said its recommendation is for the existing building at 118 Park St. to be demolished. The site is large enough to build a new public safety complex, although that would require discontinuing the section of Lisle Street north of the railroad tracks.
The recommended project phases would include setting up temporary crew and administrative quarters in modular rental units in the area west of the current apparatus bay, partially demolishing the current crew and administrative area adjacent to the apparatus bay, and construction of a new 2½-story apparatus bay, administrative area and crew quarters, at which point the fire and EMS crew would be relocated to the new addition.
The modular units would be removed and the remaining part of the existing fire station would be demolished. A two-story addition would then be built for the police department.
The existing fire station was built in 1971.
Police, Fire and EMS all operated out of the Park Street building from 1983 until 2004, but quarters were extremely cramped. Dispatch had also operated from the building until the city shifted to using Knox County Communications about 2001.
The city agreed earlier this year to sell its police station section of 1 Park Drive to the owner of the restaurant on the street level of the building, contingent on the city finding another location for the department.This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.
